subject: Overcome Negative Thought: Top 3 Ways to Do It [print this page] Overcome Negative Thought: Top 3 Ways to Do It
I always have problem with negative thought. I experience it more than a dozen times throughout the day: at home, workplace, and everywhere else in between. I understand that this is normal because human survival instinct will question new and uncertain things. It meant well. It preserves my existence until now but some times; it is detrimental.
It could cause lost business opportunity or chances to be with a better person. For whatever reason, I know it should have not been called negative thought because in actual fact it is not negative; it is just inappropriate. So how we deal with it?
If I tried to list all the thoughts that I deemed negative', I might end up with a laundry list which you would not bother to read past item Number 3 so I have decided to take a shot at the top three detrimental thoughts and how to deal with them. Since they are the most famous, chances are good that you will also experience them consistently and now you know what to do.
1) Feel and release. The first negative thought that people experience frequently is bad experience. No doubt that it serves as valuable lesson but there are times when it stops a worthy cause dead in its track. It prevents exploration which is important to make new discoveries. I alluded earlier that I had this coming many times, and the best way I deal with it is by allocating times for it.
Yes, I give time slot for the memory of my bad experience to surface, and after the time is over, if it is still there, I will just march ahead with full force.
How much time should you allocate? It depends individually but as a general rule, the shorter the time you allocate, the better.
2) Set things into perspective. Negative thoughts, if you closely examine, tend to blow things out of proportion. The immediate result is often fear, anxious or grief. When you put things into perspective, which is often difficult to do, you can approach the issue from different angle, and when that happen, the negative thoughts just wither like the white' in melting snow.
Surprisingly, the most effective tool for this job is simple question. It is said that every successful person who face adversity ask the question, "What will I do if I know I cannot fail?" Try it.
3) Take a break. Negative thoughts have strong influence during rush hours'. When you are cornered for immediate decision making or action plan, often time you just act and later think. There is nothing wrong with this operation but do you know that there is something better? This something' actually requires small shift of reality; a shift in perspective. Your initial action probably highly influence by logic but flaws in thinking is not necessarily comes from flaws in logic. In fact, logic is formed by premises or track, and if you find yourself on the wrong track, move to the right one.
Next time, before you jump into conclusion, close your eyes and take a deep breath. You might see a different movie unfold in your mind, and it is worth the time to reconsider.
